Fi Phillips

You may remember that in November last year, I took part in NaNoWrimo , that is National Novel Writing Month. Organised by The Office of Letters and Light , NaNoWrimo is a writing event that anyone can enter for free with the aim to write 50,000 words in the thirty days of November. Sadly, I didn't quite achieve that target but it certainly made for a creative whirlwind of a month. Script Frenzy is another writing event run by the The Office of Letters and Light. This time, the aim is to write 100 pages of a script (screenplay, stage play, TV show, short film or graphic novel) during the month of April. You can read their press release here . I'm up for that and have my scene plan ready to start writing on 1st April.

After moving house over Christmas and the resulting jungle of boxes that had to be unpacked, I came across a mountain of photographs. Some are from recent years. Others are from my childhood. About half of them, however, are of my parents and generations before. I thought you might appreciate a little vintage inspiration.

I've been following The Prosperous Writer blog by Christina Katz this year in my drive to be a more effective writer. This week she talks about 'perseverance'. She says, "Writers who succeed in the long run do not succeed solely because they are talented. They succeed because they have cultivated the art of hanging in there". J K Rowling faced and overcame many rejection slips before her Harry Potter books found a publisher. Stephen King drove his wife to distraction (and near bankrupcy) while he beavered away at his short stories and novels before finally hitting the big time and becoming the successful, prolific published writer he is today. I have to admire these people for sticking with it and believing in themselves in the face of rejection. On bad days I beat myself up for not persevering over the distractions of the last two decades but on better days I have to admit that those years have allowed me to hone my skills and build my life experience. I can now...

I recently read a blog article by a friend of mine, Retro Chick about how to create your own personal style. One of the tips it mentioned was looking back at old photos of the younger you to see what you used to wear and how your fashion style has evolved. Since moving house a few weeks' ago, I've unpacked an immense number of boxes and in the process of doing so, have come across files and books of my writing dating back over two decades. Not all of it is good. Some of it is delightful. Other pieces bring back memories of their context. What they all do, however, is provide an invaluable insight into how my writing style has evolved over that time. I'm not the best of poets - prose always comes to me more easily - but I found this poem about my late father. Father He is like a quiet corner shelf, his role not to step into the circle but to remain outside, observing in silence. He is the narrator who whispers our storyline, his kindly tone remaining as a cello's hum. H...

My first photo inspiration blog for 2010. Has the ideas muse left you in the lurch? Have a look at these.

I was initially going to write "I'm not talking about your general self respect, but rather your self respect as a writer" but now I think of it, the two are strongly tied together. I was brought up in a family that was loving and wanted me to write but that also felt I should have a proper job because my writing was just a hobby as far as they were concerned. I followed their lead and trained as a secretary. For years, I toiled away in office jobs and kept my writing as a safe haven to return to in my spare time. I dreamed of having my novels published but ultimately I had little respect for myself as a writer. It wasn't until I penned my first murder mystery play for the drama group I was part of that I began to think that my writing was anything more than a hobby. From then on, I began to make time for my writing, in fact guard that time ferociously. However, I still didn't call myself a writer to anyone other than my inner self. I was a secretary, a P.A., an ...

This was a question posed recently by Christina Katz in her January issue of The Prosperous Writer newsletter. For those of you who haven't heard of this lovely, talented lady, she is the author of Get Known Before The Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths To Grow An Author Platform, and Writer Mama. She is a prolific writer of articles for regional, national and online publications, and uses her professional writing experience to 'help writers get on track and get published'. Christina explained her question further as 'who do you dedicate all your hard work to?'. As writers, we're often asked 'why' do we write but to ask whom we write for is an interesting slant on the root of our writing. It's equally as revealing as the why but for me much more thought provoking. At school, I suppose I wrote for my English teachers. For my business, Murdering The Text , I write for my clients - amateur theatre groups, schools and general fundraisers. However, w...